EICMA is one of those terms you hear a lot within the motorcycle industry. This year, I had the chance to attend for work, and I have to admit, the expo really lived up to the hype!
EICMA
EICMA, short for Esposizione Internazionale del Ciclo e Motociclo (International Bicycle and Motorcycle Exhibition), stands as a premier event in the motorcycle industry. Each year, enthusiasts, professionals, and industry leaders gather at EICMA to witness the latest innovations, cutting-edge technology, and breathtaking designs in the world of motorcycles. From iconic motorcycle brands to emerging players, the exhibition provides a platform for the unveiling of new models and concepts. And it’s not only motorcycles; you can find clothing, helmets, communicators, and so much more at this expo.
More than 560,000 people came to this expo in Milan, which made it the most successful expo ever. I was there for about a day and a half and had eyes too little to see all the halls in this time frame.
NEW MODELS
EICMA is very impressive. With over 8 halls filled with motorcycle goodness, you need your walking shoes and an extra pair of eyes to cover it all. The crowd levels were insane. Especially on Friday, it was nearly impossible to move around the expo floors. Particularly, trying to see anything from the Ducati stand was a challenge, but their stand was amazing.
The level of expo stand building and working on the experience that they bring across was one of the highest I have ever seen. Honda, Triumph, and, as mentioned, Ducati had some incredible stands that really spoke to the audience. It was hard to move around and to sit on one of the motorcycles; you usually had to wait a minute.
I love seeing helmets, as it was also one of my favorite things to sell, but got to say Arai’s booth was a lot to handle. The amount of technical details that you could see from outside was a bit overwhelming. Especially as you saw zero helmets. Shoei on the other hand did it right. A great booth with great, stylish helmets. A great brand that understands how it needs to be.
In a way, this expo was also more old-fashioned than perhaps the Motorbeurs in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Let’s put all the new announcements aside, and this expo is all about the end-users having a good time. This includes giving out a million different freebies and having an awful lot of scarcely dressed women pose with teenage boys and old men. When in Italy, I suppose. The lines for freebies, or the crowd, whenever a cap was being thrown into the crowd, was absolutely insane. You would think they would kill each other for a crappy quality goodie bag.
PERSONAL HIGHLIGHTS
I feel time was almost too short for this massive expo. In the day and half, I was able to see a lot of motorcycles and experience orderly chaos at its finest. Some personal highlights were seeing some of my coworkers since the start of the war and just see a lot of new bikes. The new Honda CBR600RR was a surprise after announcing that it would retire. Seeing the Maeving electric brand was awesome. They had some killer looking bikes!
I also loved seeing the new Triumph Scramblers. They are some killer bikes, and it really made me want to ride a motorcycle. Who knows what the future brings. The EICMA is a must-visit for any motorcycle fan, but I would recommend being there on the Thursday, as it was a bit quieter than the Friday. Perhaps the only thing I would recommend is staying a bit longer than a day and half in Milan (and spending all the time on the expo floor and in a hotel). Apart from the drive to the expo, I didn’t see anything of the city, but perhaps it makes it a good reason to come back.
One thought on “A QUICK STOP AT EICMA – THE BIGGEST MOTORCYCLE EXPO”